Topics

1) Lab News: Duplex printing available
2) Lab News: PCs reinstalled and stable now
3) Unix News: Maple available
4) Unix News: Account Security
5) General News: Digital Camera
6) General News: Backups for PCs with attached instruments
7) General News: How to contact us, how to report problems

Newsletter Archive:
        http://www.chemistry.ohio-state.edu/compsupp/Newsletter/


1) Lab News: Duplex printing available:


The laser printer in the Computer Lab 2105 NW now has the ability to
print double-sided (duplex). If you need double-sided output, please
use this printer now, not hotstuff in the Main Office.

From the chemistry Unix server, use the following command to print
double-sided:

  lp -o duplex filename

For PCs and Macs, more information will be forthcoming.


2) Lab News: PCs reinstalled and stable now:


Famous last words? We hope not. After several weeks of tests, trials,
failures, and success, we can now announce that the PCs in the lab are in a
"stable" state. The latest round of updates were unfortunatly necessary to
enforce even more restrictions on the general "student" account. This is to
stem prohibited configuring and installing of software. It is very
frustrating for someone who just wants to type their reports, do their
homework or attend one of Barb's classes only to find the PC unusable because
someone else has changed everything. In the not so distant future all staff,
faculty, postdocs, and graduate students will have a Chemistry NT account
that will need to be used to gain access to the PCs.

Keep watching for news about what an NT account will do for you.


3) Unix News: Maple available:


Maple 5, Release 5 is available on all Unix machines in the Chemistry Cluster
(those that mount /home on chemistry, the so-called "assimilated Unix
machines"). Maple V is a comprehensive computer system for advanced
mathematics. It includes facilities for interactive algebra, calculus,
discrete mathematics, graphics, numerical computation and many other areas of
mathematics.

For more information, please see the Support Bulletin Board at
Internal --> Computer Support --> Support Bulletins.


4) Unix News: Account Security:


Recently, several accounts on the chemistry Unix server were compromised by
outside intruders. These intruders gained access to accounts with poorly
chosen passwords by simply trying combinations of the users' first and last
names and a trailing number. In some of these cases, the passwords may have
been intercepted by hackers somewhere on the net when users logged into
chemistry from outside the university.

NEVER use part of your name as your password!!! Always use non-dictionary,
hard to guess, uppercase/lowercase passwords and add some special
characters.  Never tell your passwords to anybody.

If you login from off-campus, use ssh instead of telnet whenever possible
(see COMPNEWS 13).

Change your passwords at least twice a year. Know your files (i.e. recognize
if somebody else logged in and created files in your home directory,
especially dot-files). Check the time of your last login.

Even if you think you don't have anything important on your account, you must
still maintain secure passwords. You may not have anything important, but
other people will. If an intruder gains access to your account, everybody is
at risk, and you are responsible.


5) General News: Digital Camera:


We would like to advertise the fact that we have a digital camera available.
This camera is ideal for taking pictures for web pages.

You can either borrow the camera, or (during the quarter) schedule an
appointment with our graphics artist, Cheng-Cheng, to have him take pictures
for you and upload them to chemistry. Please schedule apointments by sending
email to graphics@chemistry.ohio-state.edu.


6) General News: Backups for PCs with attached instruments:


Do you have a PC that controls a research instrument? Do you have a disaster
recovery plan? Do you know where ALL the software for that system is? How
much time can you afford to lose when that PCs hard drive fails, or a user
deletes needed system files. In conjunction with the Chemical Instrument
Support Group, we will be offering a service that will "capture" an image of
your system as it is now, place it on a CD-ROM, and put you in a position to
reduce down time and frustration.

Stay tuned for details on how you can schedule this service.


7) General News: How to contact us, how to report problems:


This section is especially targeted at (new) students. The best way to
contact us to request a service or to report a problem is to send email to

	support@chemistry.ohio-state.edu

Stopping us in the hallway is not an effective way to get your needs
addressed. Please don't corner us in our offices unless it's an emergency.

If you do knock on our doors, chances are you'll be talking to the wrong
person. If you send email, the person best suited to handle your problem
will respond to you and fix the problem as soon as possible. We usually
finish impossible tasks within the hour; wonders, however, take longer
than 24 hours.

Also, we prioritize requests. If five people in the department can't get
their work done because their hard drives broke, fixing their problems takes
a higher priority than changing somebody's font size or background screen
color.

About the Computer Lab 2105 NW in particular: Barb Bennett manages the Macs
and PCs (in this order). Tim Cogley is responsible for the PCs (and will
help with the Macs). There is absolutely no point in telling Gerry at 8 p.m.
that "this Mac is so slow today" or "can you fix Eudora on this PC", just
because Gerry's office happens to be 2105A.  Gerry won't be able to create an
NT account either, nor will Tim be able to fix your pine, elm or other
problems on a Unix machine.

If you need to talk to somebody rather than send email, please talk to the
right person (see Internal --> Computer Support --> Computer Support Staff on
the web).

Please understand that providing computer support can be a very stressful
job. People always complain when there are problems (and they want them fixed
immediately), but there is no comment (let alone praise) when things run
smoothly. In the end it's a zero-sum game; if we devote more effort to one
particular issue, some other project will suffer, and somebody else will feel
short-changed.